Welcome to HVAC-Talk.com, a non-DIY site and the ultimate Source for HVAC Information & Knowledge Sharing for the industry professional! Here you can join over 150,000 HVAC Professionals & enthusiasts from around the world discussing all things related to HVAC/R. You are currently viewing as a NON-REGISTERED guest which gives you limited access to view discussions

To gain full access to our forums you must register; for a free account. As a registered Guest you will be able to:

Participate in over 40 different forums and search/browse from nearly 3 million posts.

Let's not be too hard on her . If she didn't realize that it is the homeowners responsibility , she should now . Be a sport and offer to pay them their service call. You'll have a friend for life . I know the cost of a contactor , but if they're warrantying the part , they only get what the supply house will give them .

Ants continued

Well, I guess that I have been told....

The problem is that I have never heard of insects or anything else getting into an A/C unit. I grew up in Chicago and my parents had the same A/C unit for 20+ years and never had any kind of problem other than servicing the unit occasionally. My father always told me...buy quality and you will never have to worry about it again. That is what I did and that is what I expected. Servicing it twice a year, keep the air filters clean and that would be it until long after I was gone.

Nobody that I know here in Charlotte or anywhere else in the world, for that matter, has this issue. I have friends and children, even, with units that are far older and far less quality than mine. So, you can understand my skepticsim.

no, that is not true. Last year, when I was told of the issue, I bought the service contract and put out ant traps. The tech had come out twice since that time and everything was peachy. Then, suddenly, two weeks after the last service, ants have miraculously reappeared and destroyed the part. My argument was....if they were there two weeks ago when you serviced the unit, why didn't you tell me? I am not buying the fact that they destroyed the part in less than two weeks time...and, yes, he brought it in to show me...but, there was nary an ant on the thing. I don't know what it is supposed to look like, but, it did not look burnt or anything.

I paid for the part, not the service call since he was just there and did not say anything.

Again, if there was even a possibilty of ants present...at the service call, should I not have been warned to put out ant traps? THere is not a drought this year, so, I would not have had any idea that ants could/would have any interest in my A/C unit.

I am a banker, not an HVAC person. That is why I pay HVAC people to do HVAC work. I have no idea about ants (or anything else) getting into A/C units.

The problem is that I have never heard of insects or anything else getting into an A/C unit. I grew up in Chicago and my parents had the same A/C unit for 20+ years and never had any kind of problem other than servicing the unit occasionally. My father always told me...buy quality and you will never have to worry about it again. That is what I did and that is what I expected. Servicing it twice a year, keep the air filters clean and that would be it until long after I was gone.

Nobody that I know here in Charlotte or anywhere else in the world, for that matter, has this issue. I have friends and children, even, with units that are far older and far less quality than mine. So, you can understand my skepticsim.

thanks for the input

I'm in uptown Charlotte asphalt paradise....You'd think it would be rare but I always find insects and crap in my units. Another thing ants can be a part of is corrosion. It seems to be the most of a problem in areas where shrubs are close to the unit or the unit isn't elevated enough with pine needles covering the bottom of the outside unit.

You usually see one A/C system per household. I bet some of these guys see 1000's of A/C during the year. The pool which the can pull from for stories is much larger.

I don't know but I get contactors on them to replace the old ones that didn't.

Although I can't personally say any ants have caused problems with cont actors I dealt with I can say the if it was in the contacts when the contactors pulls shut I could see it getting damaged rather quickly along with a fried ant. We get rid of contactors for pitted surfaces or should be because of the poor contact area.

Well, now you do . I could think of a million reasons not to pay . The right thing to do is pay them for the service call . I'm not trying to give you a hard time . This is a matter of doing the right thing . If you feel you've done the right thing , then so be it .

One day no ants, and the next day a hill of dirt and ants. They are busy critters. Suggest that you get some granular ant treatment at the hardware store and spread it out and around the outside equipment. Out say 20 feet.

Consider it part of maintenance just like changing air filters, cleaning the condenser fins, and keeping the condensation line clear.